“These days, it’s an almost irresistible temptation to believe that when the present incumbent finally rides his mountain bike off into the sunset next January the world will be a better place merely by the fact of his absence. Amid the sinister twilight of the Bush years, such hopes are understandable. Looking at the blazing bodies of their comrades, used as torches to brighten up his banquets, the early Christians must certainly have rejoiced when Nero passed, little knowing that not so far over the horizon loomed Domitian and other emperors eager to add uplifting chapters to the Book of Martyrs. Is it conceivable that Obama or McCain could be as bad or worse than Bush?” (07/06/08)